My Wedding Day: An Unexpected Surprise!

A good friend of ours, with an amazing lakeside home, hosted our wedding. A few hours before leaving for his place I took account of what we were bringing. “We need more wine!” I decided on the spur of the moment.There’s no way I was going to impose that much on our friend’s generosity and invade his liquor cabinet, we had to bring some stuff to the party… My sister was thrilled to join me on this store run, who doesn’t like shopping for more wine bottles!

It was a typical late March cold Sioux Falls day. We parked as close to the store as we could, and started walking. That’s when it happened – an older woman was struck by a car and fell down to the ground. My sister and I each froze in shock, and looked around us to see if there was anybody else around who would jump to her rescue.

To be honest, I felt like Clark Kent – I was already wearing the glasses and the dorky clothing, and was more than happy to jump to action. The woman was hurt, but after confirming she could move her legs and wiggle her toes inside her boots I felt relieved she hadn’t suffered any major injuries. But she couldn’t stand up, and was pretty much laying on the cold wet ground. I looked toward the car that hit her, and behind the wheel was a Mr Magoo type character. Yeah, that old, that blind, that deaf. I tried opening his car door, but it was locked. LOCKED! I banged on his window and yelled for him to open it up. He just stared at his windshield and kept his knuckles firmly clutching the steering wheel.

In the back was a blanket, an old blanket that completely covered the back seat. I tried opening the back door but it was locked too. I screamed at him to unlock his doors. He never moved. Luckily his wife pushed the button, and the locks clicked. I opened the door, and grabbed the blanket as I wildly threatened them to stay there.

I joined the woman on the ground, sat down next to her, and covered her in the blanket. She then leaned into me for more warmth, her entire body was shivering to no end.

“Marie we have to go!” my sister kept insisting. I told her we could wait until an ambulance showed up. By then I’d instructed other witnesses in how they could assist. I became an on the spot dispatcher. One to make the 9-1-1 call, another to make sure the driver didn’t leave, another to assist in getting cars to drive the other way around in the parking lot. Everything was under control, and I was glad to be there for that poor woman.

“Marie, you’ll be late!” my sister continued to insist. She was frozen and shivering as much as the woman. I offered her my jacket, and that’s when she threw in why I couldn’t be late. “My sister is getting married, and we’re just here to pick up some wine!”

The woman looked at me, her gratitude then spiked up a notch to a near tilt. She insisted she’d be fine, and that I could go. I told her I’d wait for the ambulance. I couldn’t just leave her there. The crowd around us (of course a crowd gathered around us, there was an accident, and people just loved witnessing that stuff like a golden piece of visual crack) then whispered among themselves how amazing it was that on my wedding day I was sitting on the ground assisting a perfect stranger.

We heard the siren way before we could see it coming. I whispered in her ear how she’d be fine and that help was finally on the way. She tightened her grip on my hand, and I just knew right then and there that I’d be fine too. I was marrying my best friend in two hours, and everything was going to be ok.

………………………………………………..This week’s prompt at IndieChick Lit is to imagine a parallel universe me and to write a story about her. I am my parallel universe me! I’ve pretty much always lived up to who I hoped to be or become. This is the true story of my wedding day.

Great story, Marie. Maybe in the alternate universe, while you didn’t know it, the woman you helped was a wealthy dowager who instructed her secretary to arrange for full bar and catering service for your wedding as she was being loaded into the ambulance!🙂 Oh yeah, and your favorite internationally famous band!

What a great story and so touching as well, coming to the aid of an old woman is something anyone with kind heart would do………I know I would do it and wouldn’t care if I was running late to my own wedding

About

Once a race car mechanic and roller derby chick now a leadership coach, Marie is unapologetically happy and funky. Her zest for work and life are intrinsically linked. Work or play, she’s a blast to be around. Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows follow her everywhere; it’s no surprise she dreams of running away with the circus and has been writing about her vida loca since 2010 on my cyber house rules.